The sun shone in his eyes, limiting his ability to see his pursuers. Yesterday the Academy was attacked, and the world seemed a small and dark place to Shin. Yet today was bright and beautiful, and he was still in danger.
'When did my school days become so complicated,' he wondered. He smiled then, because he knew his new Academy life came from Mimi's influence. He worried about her, she was still under observation. 'Damn meddler.'
Shin was currently deep in the underbrush, hunched into a ball to minimize his presence, in one of the forest theatres on the Academy grounds. He was being pursued by the Ashigaru, the elite weapons squad of the Super Buster Platoon on Campus. It was only a matter of time before they found him, and then there was no telling what would happen. He needed this break though, to recover his stamina, and plan his next move.
'Six of the squad is after me. I don't know what weapons they have, but they specialize in ranged fire. I think I made it to the forest ahead of them,' he thought while looking at the tall trees and the leaf covered dirt paths around him. Shin knew that the forest was too obvious though, considering their specialty. Even if they didn't see him enter, they'd focus their search here quickly. The trees provided the cover he needed, but he couldn't claim the high ground as he was only armed with his Shimin katana.
'I can't hide like this, they'll pick me up on their OHUD's easily. I need to get close to them, one at a time. How can I separate them and get close enough to attack?' Shin hoped they would spread out to search for him, but, to pull this off, he needed to be a ninja, not a samurai. He stood up and headed to a small rocky ridge. 'I'll need to distract and hide, if I'm going to make it out of this.' He gathered a pile of fist sized stones, and ran deeper into the forest, where the trees were closer together and the terrain more varied.
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Lieutenant Dan walked into through the forest at a quick pace, smiling. Not that you could see it, he was in full gear with head and face shield. The six Ashigaru were spreading out through the forest ahead of him, weapons out and moving fast. 'Don't know why they think he's worth so much effort,' he thought. He was excited though, since achieving Lieutenant he spent too much time in command centres instead of in the field. He looked at the new close combat energy weapon he was just issued, and smiled. It was designed as a last resort to try and overcome the resilience of Supers, so he knew it was overkill for a student. 'Wait till he sees this, Shin might crap his pants.'
"Lieutenant. We signs of passage through the underbrush to the North-East of your current bearing. Three of us will follow this track and see if it is the student, or a wild animal. Over."
"Copy Sargent. The rest of us will continue to fan out West of your track," Dan said over the comms line. He continued forward, his OHUD super imposing the locations of his team, though he couldn't see them through the brush and trees. It was done programatically rather than through infrared. Since the decimation of the human species, the animal population had exploded, so Lieutenant Dan thought it very likely the Sargent was tracking a bear or other large animal right now.
"Thudddd." A low boom and cracking sound was heard through the nearby forest, not exactly an explosion. An earthy, ponderous crashing sound.
"Team, call in. Over," Lt. Dan shared over the comms. He stopped and oriented towards the sound, to the North-East.
"Gunner."
"DRain."
"FlapJack"
Lt Dan waited, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, and still nothing from the Sargent's team.
"Sargent, report," Lt Dan said.
"Sgt. Brick reporting. Team B is secure with me, but we have been blocked into a cave. Over."
"Say again Sargent." Dan refocused his OHUD, isolating B team and seeing their relative location. They weren't very far from him.
"We followed the trail to a cave entrance in the hillscape. We saw some scrapes made by boots, not claws, so we went in. Found an empty food pack in the back, that's when we heard the crash outside. The entrance is sealed pretty well from this side sir, but I'm sure the entire squad can clear it fast."
"Hold tight Sargent, over." Lt. Dan was surprised that the little shit tricked them. Granted, it wasn't good operational practice for them to rush in. They weren't taking Shin very seriously. 'Does he have another surprise if we rush over to help them, or is this just a tactic to give him a time to get further away?' Dan didn't have time to think.
"A team, head to B Team's location. Check for signs of the target doubling back and changing direction. We'll secure the cave and then release B Team. Over."
"Copy Lieutenant."
Lt. Dan started running. The terrain seemed more varied, the shadows under the trees seemed darker, and he noticed many more places Shin could be hiding. He wasn't worried, but this felt a lot less like hide and seek and more like a hunt to him now. 'Maybe I should have read up on this kid more. I have no idea what he's going to do.'
He saw that Team A was ahead of him by a few hundred metres, and converging fast on the location of Team B. He quickened his pace, vaulting over low trees and rocks, weaving around trees thick enough to stop an armoured vehicle. This is what Dan lived for, motion, action. His HPA score was impressive, and now that he was a Lieutenant, it was only a matter of time that he could augment further. Already he could run faster than a track star and lift a vehicle onto its side. Nothing close to Super level, but he was an amazing soldier.
Even still, the Ashigaru were an elite unit, and he realized Team A was pulling farther ahead of him. Not that he worried about it, he'd arrive moments after them. The trees were so dense ahead that he couldn't run straight, probably why he seemed slower. A Team must have a better vector or approach. Or so he told himself. The thrill of running through the forest overcame his hesitancy about further traps from Shin, and he sped up even more. Some of the trees were so close together that he could jump from trunk to trunk to trunk in a tic tac pattern that maintained his velocity and avoided some of the rough terrain. It was a feat a low HPA parkour runner would not have even attempted.
Lt. Dan launched himself from the trunk of an 80m tall tree, angling to exit the copse for the younger growth area of the forest ahead. He was almost horizontal as the large branch swung into his head from the far side of the last tree. It was unavoidable, and broke across his helmet. He lost a lot of momentum and came out of the copse in an uncontrolled roll. He turned it into a summersault, channeled the momentum in his favour and came up on his feet facing the direction of the attack, his proximity weapon in his hand.
All he could see was a large broken tree branch on the ground, with no sign of Shin, or anyone. He squeezed the release on his weapon, and a long rod sprung up. He squeezed again, engaging the active energy element, and the rod was covered by a sparking, corruscating electric field.
"Come and get me little boy," Lt. Dan said, a grin on his face. Let's see an old school sword deal with this baby. It conducted enough power to blow him off his feet. He could probably cut through the katana if he adjusted the field settings.
"Don't mind if I do," Shin said near his ear, a katana blade suddenly against Lt. Dan's throat.
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